


Aromatherapy

by festivalofpudding (berreh)



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: 1990s, Candles, College, First Time, Frottage, M/M, Sex Pollen, Tropetastic Tuesday, excessive use of the word dude, oops boner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2018-10-12 15:35:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10494000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/berreh/pseuds/festivalofpudding
Summary: Rhett & Link are stressed during finals. Gregg decides to help them out - whether they know it or not.





	

**Author's Note:**

> for [TheGreyHenley](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGreyHenley)'s [Tropetastastic Tuesday](https://tropetastictuesday.tumblr.com/) Challenge #4: Sex Pollen. I frigging love this trope. :D :D

“ArrrghhrrrARGHHH!!”

Something flew past Link’s head and bounced off the wall, and he ducked as he yanked off his headphones.

“What the crap, dude? That almost hit me!”

“That’s it.” Rhett flounced from his desk and snatched the notebook from the floor. “I’m done. One final left, and I’m gonna bomb it. I give up.”

“Well throwing stuff ain’t gonna help.”

Rhett tossed the notebook onto his desk and flopped down on his bed. He heaved a loud sigh and laced his hands behind his head, staring up at the pictures taped below Link’s bunk.

“Which one’s tomorrow?” Link asked. “Chem?”

“No, chem was this morning. Stats.”

“Don’t you have an A in that class?”

“I _probably_ got an A in that class. I _might_ have a B. If I don’t ace the final I _will_ get a B, and then if I don’t make a C in that stupid art class my GPA’s gonna drop and I’m not gonna make dean’s list.”

“Dude, how can you get a D in freaking art history? That’s like the easiest class ever.”

“I didn’t know he was taking attendance! If I had I wouldn’t have skipped half the time to play GoldenEye with Tim.”

Link rubbed his eyes. “Well, look, it's too late to pitch a fit now. I’m trying to study here too, y’know. This CAD project’s due tomorrow and there’s no make-ups.”

“Yeah that’s cool, I’m fixing to bomb my stats final and get kicked off the dean’s list, probably lose my Pell grants, have to start taking loans, maybe I’ll just quit school and go live in a cardboard box and you can come bail me out when I get busted for panhandling. But that’s OK, man, you do your thing.”

Link started to snap out a reply, but just then the door opened and Gregg walked in, jingling his keys around one finger.

“Hey man, I thought you were gone?”

“Forgot my laundry.” He crossed over to his bed, where his laundry bag sat waiting beneath Tim’s empty bunk. “Y’all leaving tomorrow?”

“Soon as I fail my stats final,” Rhett said.

“So you’re both here tonight?”

“Yeah, why?”

“No reason ― just asking, jeez. Well, I better get on the road. ” Gregg hefted the bag and turned to go, then paused and added, “Oh yeah. I, uh, I brought y’all something.”

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small object: a glass cup, the inside filled with something dark, the outside etched with an intricate pattern of swirls and knots.

“What’s that?” said Link.

“It’s, um... a candle.”

“Do what?”

“A candle. It’s supposed to be good for, like, focusing and stuff. Like for studying.”

Rhett snorted. “Are you serious?”

“Stacy got it at some head shop in Asheville. She’s into all that aromatherapy stuff.”

“Aw, come _on_ , man,” Rhett scoffed. “That stuff is bullcrap.”

“I don’t like messing with new age stuff,” said Link warily.

“Dude, it ain’t a Ouija board, it’s a smelly candle. Everybody and their mama burns smelly candles. I’ve been watching y’all―”

“Wait, what?”

“While you sleep,” Rhett said. “He watches you while you sleep. You didn’t know?”

“Hurr hurr. You two been walking around here all tense and crusty, and I thought… well, I just thought this might help.”

Link eyed the crystal cup. “You burned it? Did it work?”

Gregg smiled. “Oh yeah. It worked.” He set the candle on the table and stuffed the pouch back in his pocket. “Anyway, I gotta go. Do me a favor, at least burn it a little while to cover up Rhett’s foot stank. I’ll see y’all after break.”

“Have a good one, man,” Link called, and Rhett gave a little salute as he followed Gregg to the door. He shot the bolt, then picked up the candle and peered at it. The etching reflected light across his eyes in tiny silver-gold spangles.

“What’s it smell like?”

Rhett sniffed the wax and crinkled his nose. “Pine trees? Or cedar? Something woody. It’s not bad.”

“Lemme see it. If it smells like sandalwood they’re gonna think we’re smoking weed.” Link got up and took the candle for a sniff test. “Dude, this doesn’t smell like wood. It smells like vanilla. Or like nuts or something.”

Rhett shrugged. “You wanna light it?”

“It does kinda smell like feet in here.”

Link grabbed the lighter off the incense tray by the CD changer. It took him two tries to light the candle because the wax was half gone; Gregg must have really liked it. The wick sparked as it ignited, but it didn’t smoke like those air freshener candles his mom kept everywhere. It smelled better, too. Nothing like trees, though ― Rhett needed to get his nose checked. It smelled like something warm and sweet, like cookies, or maybe peanut butter brownies. It was nice, actually. Link set the candle down and tossed the lighter aside, then shrugged at Rhett and returned to his desk.

“How much you got left?” Rhett asked.

Link scratched at his hair, looking down at the papers spread across his desk. The project was mostly done, to be honest; he was just obsessing over details now. He sighed and began straightening things up. “I just want it to be good, you know?”

“Course you do. Just don’t poke at it so much you screw it up.”

“Now when would I ever do that?” Rhett raised an eyebrow, and Link grinned. “You want me to quiz you on stats?”

“Would you? That would be awesome, dude.” Rhett grabbed his notebook and sat down cross-legged on the floor, their standard study-partner procedure. Link sat down opposite him and began flipping through the notebook.

“Dude, this thing is disgusting. Do I even want to know what _that_ is?”

“Chocolate pudding.”

“And that?”

“Where? Oh, that’s a booger.” Link almost dropped the notebook, and Rhett pointed and laughed. “Ahhhh, I got you! It’s guacamole. Ahaha, I got you good.”

“You’re so gross.”

“You love me.”

“You wish.”

For the next ten minutes, Link quizzed Rhett on probability and statistics in civil engineering. The more questions Link asked, the better Rhett felt: maybe he wouldn’t totally fail after all. Or maybe he just needed Link to come read the test out for him. He had such a hard time keeping his head on straight sometimes, but whenever he got fed up and wanted to yell and throw stuff, Link always knew how to talk him down ― just like whenever Link couldn’t keep his attention on something, Rhett could always bring him back into focus. Ever since they were kids, they had both always known how to keep each other in the moment.

Man, Link’s hair was really getting out of control. At least he’d lost the goatee ― it made him look like an NSYNC reject. Rhett would never admit it, but he was kind of jealous; he could only manage a weak soul patch, but Link had been shaving since tenth grade. He was supposed to be the pretty one, too… which was probably why he grew the goatee. Link hated it when old ladies cooed over his eyes and girls wished they had his hair. He didn’t want to be pretty. Dudes don’t want to be pretty ― they want to be _fine_.

But he was, kinda. Even with that bushy hair. He’d changed a lot in the past year, around the eyes, the jaw. A little older, a little harder. He tanned so easy, and he’d always been cut without even trying. His shoulders were _crazy_. Rhett could see them clearly, outlined under the faded HCHS Soccer t-shirt. How could people say he was pretty? Those shoulders were frigging ripped.

“Rhett?”

“Huh?” Abruptly Rhett realized he had missed the last question. His face flushed. Had Link caught him staring? And why the crap _was_ he staring? He tried in vain to clear his head, filled with the smell of fresh-cut wood, pine trees in the rain, like fog and smoke and… wood. Bewilderment slowly dawned into horror as Rhett realized he wasn’t merely staring. He was… holy crap. He shifted a little, grateful for the baggy cargo shorts he was wearing. He could spring a boner in a stray breeze, but never in his life had he pitched a tent while sitting across from his best friend. What on earth was going on?

“Rhett? You wanna stop?”

“ _NO_ ―” Rhett’s voice cracked, and he swallowed. _What the hell?_

“You sure?” Link said, and the quaver in his voice cut straight through the fog in Rhett’s brain. Link held the notebook at arm’s length, tilted a little too far down, clutched like a shield blocking the view of his lap. Both his hands had gone white at the knuckles. The vein in his neck thumped visibly with his rapid pulse. Rhett blinked at him.

“Link… you feel OK?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m kinda dizzy.”

“Maybe we should open the window.”

Silence resumed.

“You do it,” Rhett said.

“No, you do it,” said Link.

They stared at each other over the battered notebook. Rhett bit his lower lip. Link’s adam’s-apple bobbed as his mouth opened.

“Rhett…”

“…Yeah?”

“I…um… I think w―”

Rhett tore the notebook from his hands and pinned him to the floor before he had time to yelp.

Link’s eyes opened wide, but when his back hit the floor his knees spread to let Rhett’s hips press into his. They both gasped at the contact, breaking the awkward kiss before it got started.

“What are you doing?” Link breathed.

“I dunno,” Rhett gasped.

Link squirmed underneath him. “Don’t stop.”

Rhett could feel him getting harder, waves of heat through all the layers of cotton between them. He nearly shot it right there, but as they fumbled and writhed in a tangle of limbs, trying to grope every part of each other at once, Rhett’s knees kept scuffing on the carpet and Link’s face kept getting pressed into his neck or an armpit. His forehead bumped the floor, and he jerked his head up in frustration.

“Dude, get on the bed.”

Link’s eyes grew even wider. “What are we―”

“I don’t know, I don’t care, just get on the damn bed!”

Link scrambled from beneath him and together they dragged the blankets off Rhett’s bunk, exposing his Dukes of Hazzard sheets and the pool noodle he'd taped around the iron rail where his feet hung over the end. Link stuck a pillow over it, then peeled off his shirt and pushed Rhett into the bunk.

“Hey―”

“You’re too tall, man, my face is in your pits.”

Rhett ditched his shirt and shorts and sprawled in his skivvies on the narrow mattress, bracing his feet against the cushioned rail. He was so hard it hurt, and when he glanced down he would have blushed in mortification if he had any blood left in the upper half of his body. Link kicked his own shorts aside and crawled in on top of him, settling between his spread knees. He smiled down at Rhett, his bead necklace dangling over his collarbones, and Rhett grabbed his ass to pull their hips together. Link gasped and his elbows buckled, but he bit his lip and reached down between them to pull himself free. Rhett did the same, his fingers trembling when they brushed against Link’s. Nothing between them... nothing between them now.

When you live with three other dudes in a tiny dorm with creaky bunk beds, you learn how to jack it on the DL. Rhett was an expert in the fine art of getting off in near-motionless silence. But nothing on earth could have stopped the sound he made when Link slid against him, all slick skin and soft hair and unbearable heat. Rhett pushed up to meet him, and with the next thrust his head dipped back and his spine arched on the mattress.

“Oh my God―”

“Lord’s name―”

“Sorry ― oh my gosh…”

Link almost laughed, but the sound turned into a moan as their tempo increased. He pressed his forehead to Rhett’s shoulder, his hair tickling Rhett’s nose, his breath warm against Rhett’s chest and neck. The muscles in his shoulders bunched and eased in time with each thrust. Rhett’s balls tightened and he groped blindly for something to hold onto: smooth back, curved ass, sharp shoulder. One hand closed in Link’s hair and pulled, tighter and tighter until Link grunted and threw his head back. Their eyes met ― his face was flushed, his mouth open, lower lip swollen and wet. Without warning Rhett’s hips jerked and he swore as he came so hard it made him roar through bared teeth, over and over until his vision blurred and he could barely draw a breath. Link bucked and tried in vain to stifle his own yelp, but his voice vibrated in Rhett’s chest as he dropped his head and groaned through every shuddering pulse. All at once he collapsed, sprawled atop Rhett’s now-slippery belly as they gasped for air until their racing hearts began to slow.

The scent of cedar wood brought Rhett back to reality. It was diluted now by the smells of sweat and sex, but it cut through the white noise of his own heartbeat and made his muddled brain finally realize what had just happened. As Link grew still and silent above him, he knew he was thinking the same. He felt like he should tense up, move away, but his limbs had turned to water. He put a hand on Link’s back, felt a bead of sweat beneath his palm.

Link raised his head. The hazy look in his eyes was gone, and so was his smile. Eventually he managed a single quiet sentence.

“We shouldn’t have done that.”

Rhett stroked a thumb along Link’s spine. “Bro, I think we should’ve done that a long time ago.”

“But… I mean…”

“Don’t. Don’t go there, man.” He shifted his pelvis so they were no longer touching, and ducked his head until Link was forced to meet his eyes. “Hey. Hey — it’s me. OK? It’s gonna be OK.”

Link nodded. He ran a hand through his hair, wiping sweat from his forehead. His necklace bounced against his collarbones, and Rhett reached up to flick it.

“Those beads are weak. I told you, you need to wear the ones Cole got me at Myrtle Beach. They would— they’re better.”

Link's grin returned. “They would what? No, come on — they would what? They would _look nicer on me_?”

He flicked one of Rhett’s earrings, then the other, and laughed when Rhett shoved him away. They wrestled on the creaking bunk, laughing, until Rhett got leverage and flipped Link onto his back. He pinned Link’s hands above his head, and abruptly their laughter faded into silence.

Softly Rhett said, “What just happened?”

“I don’t know,” Link said. He looked up into Rhett’s eyes, and the worry in his own began to brighten into hope. “Something good, I think.”

Rhett felt himself stir against Link’s thigh, and abruptly he released his hold and rolled over, rubbing his face with both hands. “Can we open a window or something? I can’t breathe. That candle’s gotta go.”

“Why? I like it. It’s like cookies or bread or something.”

“What? It doesn’t smell anything like that. I think you’re having a stroke.”

“No, for real, it—”

They both stopped, and turned to stare at each other.

“Holy crap,” Link said.

“Do you think—?”

“It’s gotta be.”

“Did you— when the—?”

“Yeah.”

“But Gregg said…”

Their jaws dropped. For a second Rhett felt like his eyes were going to fall out of his head, and then he held up both hands and said, “You know what, I can’t think about that right now. Nope. In fact, let’s not ever think about that. Like, ever again.”

Link seized him around the waist and pulled him back down to the mattress. He landed with an _oof!_ and rolled onto his back, dangling his feet over the end of the bed. Link stretched out beside him, every part of them touching as they crowded on the narrow bunk.

“OK. Let’s think about other stuff.”

He shifted his hips, already hard against Rhett’s belly, and Rhett squirmed as he fought to keep a clear head. “Dude, don’t you wanna go to sleep? I mean, it’s past midnight. I've still got this final tomorrow. And you've gotta turn in your project. And we've still gotta pack for the drive home...”

"Stop," Link said. “You’re gonna dominate that final, and you know it. And my project is done. And anyway… that’s tomorrow.” He touched Rhett’s face, the smooth part of his cheek between sideburn and soul patch. “This is now.”

Rhett smiled. He slid an arm around Link’s shoulder and drew him close - the smell of timber and forest storms filled his head, but then they receded and were crowded out by the scent of Link’s skin as he slid down Rhett’s body and held him there, safe and in focus, ready to lose himself in the moment.


End file.
